Raymond Kerwin, 32, is the new principal of St. Joseph High School and the first laymen ever to hold the top administrative position in the schools of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Sister Placide Regan, who had been at St. Joseph High School for five years and had served as principal last year, has been reassigned by the Sisters of St. Joseph to Reicher High School in Waco, Texas.

Kerwin comes to Atlanta from St. Michael High School in New Lothrop, Michigan, where he served as the principal last year. A Michigan native, he attended St. James Elementary School in Bay City, Michigan. He received his bachelor's degree from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio.

Kerwin served in the United States Army Medical Corps as an instructor at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 1962 to 1969. While in the service, he attended the graduate School of Education of East Carolina University.

Following his release from the Army, Kerwin began teaching at St. Michael High School in Pinconning, Mich. Since then he has taught in several other high schools in the Saginaw Diocese. Primarily an English teacher, he also taught social studies and coached basketball.

In June of 1969, he received his master's degree in secondary school administration from Central Michigan University. He then was appointed principal of St. Michael High School in New Lothrop, Michigan.